USM Motor

[hank]

Spying on our Foxes is no problem, unless I have the camera with me, in which case they seem to know I'm there!
It occurred to me that as the Image Stabiliser is driven by an Ultrasonic Motor, the Foxes may be able to detect some form of noise. I shall of course be experimenting with switching it off!
Has anyone had any experience of this problem with animals?

EDIT: The title should have read 'USM Motor'.

[Doggle Avaddit]

Originally Posted by hank

Spying on our Foxes is no problem, unless I have the camera with me, in which case they seem to know I'm there!
It occurred to me that as the Image Stabiliser is driven by an Ultrasonic Motor, the Foxes may be able to detect some form of noise. I shall of course be experimenting with switching it off!
Has anyone had any experience of this problem with animals?

EDIT: The title should have read 'USM Motor'.

Try switching off the display too, or switching to viewfinder. Sometimes the display backlighting is run by audible oscillators.

[Doggle Avaddit]

Originally Posted by Doggle Avaddit

Try switching off the display too, or switching to viewfinder. Sometimes the display backlighting is run by audible oscillators.

My Nokia phone makes a noise when the display backlight is on, even though the baclighting is LED's. I assume the noise is generated by some sort of oscillating DC/DC converter working harder to power the LED's.

Whatever, you do find oscillators in places you don't expect them to be, and the Foxes may be hearing some of them that may be outside of our hearing range.


(Older style backlighting used to ba achieved with Electroluminescent strips that were driven by an oscillator supplying around a hundred volts AC at around 2KHz - often very audibly! However I would suspect that most if not all cameras now use LED's).

[Geoff F]

Which camera and lens? Some are virtually silent while others stabilise and auto focus with quite a whirr and clunk. The Canon 70-300 IS for example is well known for this problem.

Yes fully manual, preferably on a tripod is the best answer.

But also consider if it is actually the camera which is frightening them not the noise. Can they see the lens, which is quite spooky and I don't even like lenses being pointed at me!

Possibly they even know that you are there but don't consider you to be a threat until you pick up the camera; like the way garden birds behave differently when you pick up a camera.

I find body language is most important as many people tense up and look threatening as soon as they reach for their camera. Once behind the lens, it is best to stay that way and avoid picking up and putting it down.
I find it is easier to approach insects if I actually hide behind the lens then slowly creep up on them.

[hank]

Canon 70-200 IS and Canon 24-105 IS both L series.
I'm in a shed with a purpose cut slot. The lens does not protrude and is surrounded by camo netting. I'm sitting down and the camera is on a tripod, so the IS is not really needed.
I'm suspecting that some form of ultrasonic noise is the cause, so I'll be trying again Saturday with it off.
Thanks for the replies, I'll let you know how I get on.